This past week was very unusual in that my office sounded more like Jerry McGuire’s than my own.  I had a small bidding war going on for Cadet Nate Hollinger, ’12.  This is pretty unusual and a first for my in four years.  I wasn’t yelling into the phone SHOW ME THE MONEY but it felt like it at some points with offers and counter-offers coming in.

The war started when Nate received word from one of the university’s that he received a ROTC scholarship.  It came with a choice of three universities.  The terms of the ROTC scholarship are pretty fixed, but most ROTC programs have some university supplied money they can pony up to sweeten the pot to help secure a candidate.   Over about three days, we were getting calls from the three recruiters at the universities offering a little bit more.

By the end all the colleges offered him basically the same deal:  Between the ROTC scholarship and institutional money, he was going to be responsible for one year’s tuition for all four years of college.  This is about 1/8^th the total cost of a college education.  All schools offered to try and upgrade the scholarship to cover the remaining amount if possible, but without guarantees.  I predict he will get this, and it will make his four years of college free, to include the room and board piece.

Getting a full ride scholarship doesn’t happen very often these days.  Back when I was in college, students with high test scores got full rides, and the other students got very little.  What happens now is virtually everyone gets something, and the awards are less.  To get this much money is a rare happening these days.

So, why Nate?  A couple of things jump out about his packet:

1.  He has a GPA above a 4.0.  He is a great student and he works hard.  This sets him apart from the pack on his application and shows he can handle college work.
2. He tested well on the ACT and SAT.  His scores weren’t “rockstar” but they were solidly good.
3. He holds a high position of responsibility in the Corps of Cadets and does his job with zeal.  He has earned a reputation as a great cadet who gets things done.
4. He maxed his scholarship interview.  He received all possible points on it because of his determination, hard work, and gentlemanly character.
5. Finally, and don’t underestimate this one, he wants to be a military nurse.  Nursing students are the prima donnas of ROTC programs.  Getting someone who can handle nursing school and ROTC is a pretty rare mix, and ROTC programs hold them very highly when they are found.

Nate got himself into a very good position through hard work, perseverance and by demonstrating high degrees of character over time.  It does pay off over time, and he got to choose between three universities purely on the grounds of which one he thought suited him best.  Money is not so much a factor now.

I should remind parents that Nate is very unique and this has happened once, but he does give a good model on what good things can happen when all of these details come together.  I am very happy for him, and he is happy with his decision.  He will be missed.

An earlier blog entry discussed the virtues of MMA as a producer of SALs, which is Army ROTC speak for scholar-athlete-leaders.  This year had been a disappointing one so far for ROTC.  All services were telling me their budgets were cut by 40% and the curve rose considerably for who got ROTC scholarships.  The senior class of 2012 had only received one so far, and that was totally expected based upon his high test scores, fantastic GPA and tremendous ancillary record.

ROTC was being remarkably cool to the Class of 2012.  We had talked to a few recruiters who had offered up college based offers for cadets, meaning the money came from the university and not the military itself. These are good but I felt a little confused by what i was seeing.  I had great applicants and nothing seemed to be happening for them.

Today the floodgates blew open and we got two offers, and they were interesting offers indeed.  The two scholarships were for Army ROTC and they were for the two most likely candidates in the pool.  That was noteworthy enough although this particular round of scholarships had the tag of Commanding General’s Scholarships.  These were given to candidates whose “total person scores” were very high.

I used to teach Army ROTC for 8 years, so this made sense to me but let me put this in plain English.  The cadets were very well rounded in every area.  Their packets did not stand out because they were really highly ranked in any one area compared to some of their competition, but the strength of their overall packet is what got them the scholarship.  This means that their academics, test scores, physical test, activities, and the all-important interviews added up higher than their competition.  Only a small number of applicants are strong in every area like they are.

I think this is a testament to many things. First, these young men worked very hard to get to this point and deserve the credit.  These opportunities are wonderful for them.  Second, it shows they have great parents who got them on the right track pretty young.  Competing like this does not start at the age of 14 when they enter high school. The small lessons they learned from being a toddler through middle school has contributed.  Also, credit should be given where credit is due, and some of that needs to go to MMA.  MMA gave them the opportunity to be in music, drama, sports, drill team, and become a leader in the barracks while undergoing a rigorous academic program.

Congrats to these seniors and I am glad they are tracking to join the officer corps of the military.  I have three more years of service before I face mandatory retirement.  Knowing these cadets are in the pipeline gives me faith our military is in good hands for the future.  If our military is in good hands, then so is our country.

Our college experiences have a lasting impact on you, and there is a culture of terms and facts on each campus that everyone seems to know about. Every college town has the well-known pizza place, restaurant, or shared experiences that you can always talk about. I went to Truman State University and any Truman State Alum from the 80s can converse about Pagliai’s Pizza and their ronzas, tater tots at the Blue Moon Café, or a freshman level class in the now demolished Laughlin Hall 106. Any Truman alum is also familiar with the name Ryle.
Every campus has a name that rings familiar to their ears and Ryle is one from Truman State. For me, I knew three generations of Ryle. The elder Walter Ryle was the university president well before I got there, but my office for twelve years was in Ryle Hall, the building named after him. His son, Walter Ryle, was a history professor and later athletic director. I took his World Civ class in…you guessed it…Laughlin Hall 106. I also got to know his son, Doug, because he was an Army Officer who lived in Kirksville.
I can’t remember much from my World Civ class, minus maybe the way he explained the Mayans did some sort of sacrifice, but other than that the class is a vague memory of fiberglass seats, and him at the lectern. I was a history major and pulled a C on these terrible scantron exams he had used for years that made me just feel hopeless. My C felt like a gift from God by the time final grades were posted.
It was only later that Walter said something that constantly sticks in my mind. At the time, I was working at Truman as an administrator and Walter was the Athletic Director. The campus was all abuzz with cutting back of male athletics to better comply with Title IX. Walter was speaking to the Kiwanis Club and addressing this issue. It had been framed as there being major and minor sports. Major sports would be football, basketball, baseball and minor sports would be wrestling, golf, etc. The discussion was that Truman would have to cut several minor male sports to better comply with Title IX. Walter, with his sage wisdom said this: “There are no minor sports to the young men who play them.”
College Placement sometimes seems to be all about the rankings. I have had students come into my office and the discussion went something like this:
Q: So where are you thinking about going to college?
A: I want to attend a top 100 ranked college.
Q: OK, have you narrowed the list, or know which ones you want to apply to?
A: No, I just want it to be a top 100 ranked college.
Q: Are there any specific ones you want to attend?
A: Harvard, Yale, MIT or any other top ranked 100 college.
You can see where the discussion is going. It is all about the rankings and the colleges are completely interchangeable. Pennsylvania, Washington State or Montana isn’t a factor, but it is all about the rankings. Some view a college acceptance list as a scorecard and validation of the student and parent, or the school that produced it. This also shows the importance their parent places on this list, because I doubt a teenager came up with that answer on their own. It probably has been burned on their hard drive from birth to “get into a top 100 college.”
I see things with a little more complexity. Maybe an acceptance to Arizona State isn’t a big deal to some, but for the student who was thinking they could only go to a community college, this is a huge victory. A student doesn’t get into an Ivy League college, but he got into Emory. That’s no failure but something to be very proud of for his future. It’s all about the details in the college meritocracy and minor differences in their applications can steer them one direction or the other. All politics are local according to the phrase, and in college placement, all acceptances are individual.
This causes me to paraphrase Walter Ryle in a new way, “There is no minor college acceptance to the student who got it.” Judging the academy by its acceptance list alone doesn’t tell the full story. I know of a student who came to MMA with a 1.85 GPA and is now a very successful junior at a senior military college. All students and their college plans have to be seen in the context of their previous experiences and abilities. I say this knowing we have a really good acceptance list this year and one of the better ones since I started in 2009. The Class of 2012 has been excellent to work with and get into their final destinations. When reviewing our list, remember each student is an individual and they have a story, a past and a future. Also remember every acceptance is a victory and validation for the student, their parents and an opportunity for them to achieve their life goals.

All MMA seniors have two gates that they must cross to graduate from the Academy:  A college acceptance and a minimum of 20 community service hours.  I think these two requirements point to the core values of our academy:  the importance of a college education and that of helping our communities now and as an adult.  I manage both of these requirements and am passionate about both of them.

When you read this, the senior class is at over 80% accepted and working towards 100% by graduation.  We have gotten some really good acceptances in the past week:  UC-Berkeley, Arizona State, University of Colorado and two law schools in the country of Mexico.  Because about 20% of our students are from the county of Mexico, our college acceptance list has many acceptances from Mexican Universities.  Our cadets consistently get into some of the best Mexican universities, law schools and colleges.  We saw that happen this week as the seniors get their results and make decisions on where they will spend their futures.

While I like seeing our cadets get into prestigious universities, I probably get more satisfaction working our less overachieving students.  Some students arrive at MMA after checkered academic performances at other schools.  I am able to see how their transcript reflects a change in behavior and their increased performance in the classroom.  I firmly believe our greatest successes are not with the upper end students, although I am very proud of them.  Our greatest success stories are with our cadets who would most likely not be going to college without MMA intervention.  The “we are all going to college” environment creates positive peer pressure amongst the cadets and assists with our work.  Many of these students had dubious futures without having attended MMA.

MMA’s tradition of service meant military service for the first century of the academy.  The academy has evolved and we haven’t forgotten this tradition.  It has been updated with community service.  We teach that to be a leader in your community, you must be actively engaged in your locality.  I suspect every cadet has a “moment” during their community service work each year that gives them the internal reward of knowing they helped someone.  Many of our cadets do go on to still serve in the military of their nations, but for those who don’t this service is just as important.  Planting this seed in high school is important, as I remember my experiences doing community service with DeMolay as a highlight of my high school career.

The last two months of school are a rush, with final acceptances and decisions, meeting all the graduation requirements, Formal Inspection and commencement activities.  I keep telling the seniors it will become a blur shortly, and they will wake up at final formation.  I don’t think they believe me, but the alumni know what I am talking about.  MMA presses a fast forward button in the last two months and it just flies.  For our office, the Class of 2013 is starting to take over our office now, a sign of the cycle we live.  We get 100%, feel good for a week or two, and start back over at zero with a new group.   That’s our battle rhythm.  That’s what we do in College Placement.

One advantage of being in my job for a fourth school year is I have learned to look for foreshadowing events about an individual class.    When working with a new group of students, you get a sense of how the year is going to go through events like the PSAT and PLAN tests, test registrations as juniors and other events.  I was excited to work with the Class of 2012 because I saw it had considerable talent.  I expected big things out of them and made predictions of their successes.

This school year has gone pretty much as I expected it to.  The Class of 2012 has been an excellent group of young men to work with through their college process.  I was expecting some pretty good things out of them, but by early February I was starting to get skeptical.  Things weren’t coming in as expected.  I was starting to wonder if all the talk about reducing college scholarships and cuts in military scholarships/appointments were the cause. Did I just get it wrong?  By late February I was feeling bluer about it.  By Spring Break, I was getting concerned.  We just weren’t where I thought we should be.  The Class of 2012 was underperforming, and I was getting worried.

The week after Spring Break is usually exciting in our office because we get two weeks of news in one week.  The cadets come back from break with lots of news and updates.  Our week started pretty normally, but then we got news of a big acceptance:  Michigan for E.J. Chung.  Michigan has a special status at Missouri Military Academy, which elevated it to the level of the Holy Grail.  Maj Gen Flanagan is a Michigan alum and we had several conversations about this over the past few years.  Maj Gen Flanagan would say “When are you going to get someone into Michigan?”  I would respond “As soon as you get me someone who can get into Michigan.”  We did this dance for several years, and then I saw E.J. Chung’s packet and that he was applying to Michigan.  If he couldn’t get in, no one could.  We waited and waited for an answer.  We were putting up, or shutting up with this application.  We finally got an answer last week.  He got accepted, and that was a great opportunity for this fine young man; AND finally we had that one in our pocket.  The incoming President of MMA, Mr. McGeorge, went to University of Pennsylvania, so I suspect I might be repeating this same situation with that university soon.

We then got word of a number of other great acceptances:  Brandies, UCLA, DePaul, Boston University, Monterrey Tech and many others.    The big one I was waiting for was the US Air Force Academy.  I had a good feeling Jared Roberts would get accepted.  Jared is a terrific student, superb test taker, and Division I basketball recruit.  He hit all the gates, but we had a second application in there, Landon Smalley.  Landon is one of the best rounded cadets MMA has produced in many years.  He has done a little bit of everything at MMA, gotten the most out of his experience, and excelled at everything.  I worried that despite being so well rounded, he wouldn’t get in.  He was strong in every area but not “rockstar” in any one area.  His chances were based upon the strength of his entire packet, not just a few areas.  It is difficult to predict results in these instances.

We got word that Jared got accepted on Thursday, and we were so happy for him.  To see a young man achieve such a lifelong goal is so incredible to see, but I remembered we had another.  We heard nothing for an entire day about Landon, and then I heard in the parking lot leaving on Friday that he also got in.  I was so happy for him.  Landon’s acceptance showed that hard work, persistence, and taking advantage of every opportunity that MMA offers a young man can get someone ahead to someplace really good.   They will make the number of former cadets of mine at 3 at the USAFA, and fourth in a service academy.

By the end of the week, the Class of 2012 had garnered close to $1 million in scholarship dollars, accepted close to 20% of their seniors to a college.  Sharing the highs and lows of college acceptances with our students is always a roller coaster ride, but I can’t remember such a good week in my four years.  This first class of “Gold Dome Boys” has certainly validated the new color of the Stribling Hall roof.  It is fitting that all of their signatures are on the inside of the dome when it was placed on the top of the building.  They certainly have started the new era of the Gold Dome by leaving their marks in many places.  Good job Class of 2012!        e

It has been a busy two weeks in the placement office since I blogged last.  Since then, we have had Fall Family Weekend, which went really well.  For me it was a blur of appointments, but I enjoyed speaking with everyone who stopped by my office.  I tried to fit everyone in who wanted to speak, either on Friday before or after my appointments, or Saturday after my appointments ended.

This senior class is a very active one, and they are pushing us in the CPO.  This is a very good position to be, since we are usually fully engaged with supporting them.  This shows their ambition and desire to go to good schools.  We are starting to hit the first big deadline, 1 November, for early decision as well as the University of California application.   The next big deadline window for us will be 1 January.  For us, that is really about 15 December, because of Christmas break.  We can still get things done over Christmas break, but we prefer to take care of everything well before then.

Regarding deadlines, I push the cadets to get things in a full month before the deadline, although realistically 10 days is what it ends up being many times.  I have had a few instances of being in the night before a midnight deadline making things happen for a senior who needed something at the last minute.  I try to remind them that their computer may fail, the network may crash, they might become unexpectedly ill or busy at the last minute, things get lost in the mail, or UFO’s might invade the MMA campus.  While the last one is unlikely, the rest are very possible.  There is also a life lesson here about deadlines, and getting things done before they are required to be.

We had some good news about Jared Robert’s interview with Senator Brown’s office for a nomination for the Air force Academy.  He said it went very well.  He has another interview with his congressman coming up soon.  Landon Smalley also has similar interviews coming up soon.  I hope to be able to report some good news soon about these in the near future.

It has been an exceptionally busy fall in the CPO due to the large numbers of our officer producing programs candidates for college next year.  By officer producing I mean ROTC or service academies, with the end point being an officer in the US military.  We are nearing the end of the flurry of paperwork for these applications soon as we complete their files.  We have a dozen candidates this year, which is nearly double my largest previous year.

I knew our cadets usually interviewed well from previous feedback I received.  This round of interviews confirmed this.  We have four or one-third of the cadets interviewed getting perfect scores on their interviews.  Of the rest, another third received excellent ratings, making them very competitive for a scholarship.  That is two-thirds of our applicants, which is a very notable achievement for the Class of 2012.

I thought about why they did so well and I can quantify it in several areas:

1. Our cadets speak a similar language as the interviewer:  Being at MMA is an immersion in a military type environment, so the interviewing officer and they are using the same terms.  When a cadet says he is a platoon leader, the interviewer can automatically relate to this, because of his/her own experience as a platoon leader.  This creates rapport and makes the interview go smoother.
2. MMA cadets get involved with many extra-curricular activities:  At my public high school in the 1980s, I was very active in music and did some drama activities, plus involvement with DeMolay, which is a masonic organization for young men.  I was a pretty good tuba player, and I made it to All-State Band.  My achievements, which were pretty good for my high school, pales in comparison to these cadets.  They are leaders in the MMA Corps of Cadets, play varsity sports, are in drama performances, boy scouts, have pilot’s wings and do community service.  The range of activities our cadets do is so much broader than my high school.  Looking back, I was a one trick pony, and many of my seniors are Swiss Army Knives.
3. The criteria to judge the interviews is very similar to the things we do well at the academy:  Army ROTC uses the SAL, or Scholar, Athlete and Leader equation to judge potential for success in college level ROTC.  We push academics, leadership and all cadets must be involved with athletics of some kind.   We set them up for success by getting them into situations where they learn in multiple environments, and the sum of the parts is greater than the pieces.
4. Our cadets are usually well prepared for the interviews:  I am a product of ROTC from Truman State, and I taught Army  ROTC at the University of Missouri-Columbia for 8 years.  I sat in on a hundred plus scholarship interviews, and saw them go well and poorly.  All cadets get a copy of my list of potential questions to prepare, and most of them come in for practice interviews with me.  I also provide them with the interview checklists the officer will likely use.  Usually that makes them more comfortable and they have their thoughts organized.  I know most of them would do well without this preparation, but this interview is worth hundreds of thousands of scholarship dollars to their future.  It shouldn’t be left to chance.  The cadets usually take these very seriously and are very prepared for them.  They put the work into preparation and it pays off with excellent results.

I spoke of the two thirds that did well on their interviews, but I cannot forget the other one third.  There are some other ways I can possibly get them to ROTC, specifically through the two year ROTC program at the Junior Military Colleges.  Several of my “other third” have already started pursuing this option without my prompting.  My goal is to get all of them in a program that gets them to where they want to go in life.  This is a separate process and it is a new start for all of them to do well.

Unfortunately not everyone will likely make it, because being a military officer requires academic, athletic, medical and leadership traits.   That is a very select group to hit all of these gates.   We do strive to get them to live up to their full potential and be judged in the best light.  If they aren’t successful, I want it to be because their competition beat them, and they didn’t beat themselves by not being prepared.

Stay tuned for updates on how this goes.  I know the competition will be tight this year, because ROTC programs are cutting their scholarships by 40% this year.  I also know the service academies have to scale down too and have cut numbers.  This will make the competition fiercer for the available appointments and scholarships.  I do know our cadets are well positioned for what is available and should fare well.   We will see in a few months…

This school year is off to a great start with four seniors with acceptances. I always tell the seniors to work over the summer on applications because the senior year is very busy.  Those who did are seeing the results of their efforts.  The acceptances we have are for all very good colleges, including the University of Missouri-Columbia, University of Kansas, Western Illinois University, University of Central Missouri, Westminster College, Marion Military Institute, and The Citadel.  I want to recognize Reese King, Kyle Hughes, Landon Smalley, and Travis Skinner for their achievements.

September is a busy month in our office and we spend much of it getting ready to the ACT and SAT tests, working on military scholarship applications, service academy applications, and having colleges come to visit us.  We spent three different athletic periods giving the physical tests to the ROTC and service academy applicants.  The senior class has many competitive candidates for ROTC and Service Academies, so we should start getting some fruits of their efforts back by November, although some notifications won’t come back until late spring.

Over the weekend of 15-18 September, I took Cadets Zhang ’12 and Chiu ’12 to visit Texas A&M (see photo above) through their Junior Cadet Accessions Program.  The cadets got to spend a few nights in the cadet barracks with the A&M Corps of Cadets, learn about the school, attend a football game (Gig ‘em Aggies!!), compete in a  drill down, and attend a banquet.  Our cadets enjoyed this trip and both earned a JCAP scholarship worth $2,400 and qualified for in-state tuition, so a total of about $120,000 in scholarships and tuition breaks.

I was very impressed with Texas A&M, and their Corps of Cadets.  The Texas A&M Fighting Aggies Marching Band is also a really great opportunity for some of our graduates.  Probably the highlight of my weekend was seeing Hugh Carnahan, Class of ’08 and former Railsplitters leader, get his Aggie Class Ring.  Aggie Rings are sacred to their alums, and he proudly wore it with his MMA ring.  Hugh is currently an officer in D-2 in the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M.  He will graduate after an additional year in 2013 and will pursue a career in Management Information Systems.

I have big hopes for the Class of 2012, and I suspect they will have a near record breaking year, so stay tuned for further updates on their acceptances, and progress in making it through the senior year.  On Saturday they took the SAT test and in a few weeks the ACT test.

I have high hopes for more athletic scholarships this year due to the work of Coaches Noel and Wilson. Coach Wilson has been very proactive with coordinating with colleges and getting the information needed to inform colleges about some of our outstanding athletes.   Even at a smaller school, playing on the football team can gain a player a small scholarship to lower the tuition price, so it is well worth pursuing even for the lesser known seniors on our team.  Coaches Wilson and Noel will probably take this to a new level this year.
Homecoming weekend reminds me of how quickly time will fly and next year they will all be alumni. So, for the seniors, get back to work on your applications!  The rest of you, check back and I will update you on their progress.

The 2011-2012 school year is off to a great start with news about an excellent college acceptance – senior Reese King just learned that he was accepted to The Citadel. The Citadel was Reese’s first choice college.

Needless to say, Reese and his parents were thrilled with the news – according to his mom, this has been a dream of Reese’s since he was ten years old. His dad took him to visit several military colleges during Spring Break last year, and The Citadel turned out to be The One. It was Reese’s first choice, and next fall, he will be a member of the South Carolina Corps of Cadets.

For Reese, who wants to study history and pursue a career as a Marine officer, The Citadel is a great match. (And I’m sure the South Carolina winters will be a welcome benefit, too.) We’re all proud of his achievement.

The lesson to be learned in all of this is early preparation. Do the research. Visit schools. Find out about their admissions requirements and develop a plan to get there. This is why we start the “where do you want to go to college?” conversation early (as early as the 8th grade) at MMA. You can’t take back time, so it’s important to make sure you’re proceeding in a direction that will take you to your goals.

Congratulations, Reese!